Monday, November 30, 2009

We love vintage, as you know... and the idea of vintage, and the thrill of thrifting. Online vintage isn't nearly as exciting as browsing a real brick and mortar store, oftentimes, and there's the risk of things not fitting, too, and wasting time and money shipping things back (if the seller will even take returns)...

There is also, apparently, a plethora of absolutely hideous silhouettes and colors to choose from, should you want them... (seriously, was the blouson-waist secretary dress, or the pleated skirt, or the double-breasted blazer EVER a good look for anyone?)... We fully admit that the search function on Etsy can be extremely frustrating, but our use of the 'advanced search' function managed to weed out most of the dress patterns and into actual clothes, and get us into the general price range we were looking for (don't forget you can sort by low to high price within any search, as well). We are here to do all of that hard work of slogging through the ugly for you, though, so today we are presenting some beautiful clothes found amidst a sea of hideousness (er, no offense intended, vintage seller readers; we're sure all of the fugly was in others' shops), all $15 or under.

We seem to be in a pink dress sort of a mood today! Here are some of the lovelies that caught our eye:

We are pretty much weeping over here that this amazing piece wouldn't fit us in a million years with a trillion sit-ups, but we hope one of our tiny readers snaps it up. It is just too adorable and too cheap to sit alone in that shop! GO!

We hope you enjoy these picks and that if you're shopping online this Cyber Monday, you remember to support small, independent suppliers, crafters and artists and vintage purveyors, rather than just bumping up the profit margins of the big box stores! Happy thrifting!

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

We really can't get enough of this topic. Theoretically plaid is hot right now, if you go in for that trend thing, and so is vintage, if you're being green, which we all should be, so it only makes sense to at least look into your options, right? We are seeking out super-thrifty selections on Etsy tonight.

First up, we're kind of staggering at the bargains offered in GittaMarie's shop, including this cutie, $4!

We brought some flats to head to Goodwill on an extended lunch break yesterday (no sense in limiting browsing time with ouchy feet, after all). It's been a few weeks... and since our vintage Pendleton skirt arrived, we have been craving more wool skirts! More more more! Last pass through we couldn't find a single one, but on this trip there were just dozens... We tried on at least five, including a Pendleton in bright teal with magenta and purple plaid (omg, so us!), but most of them had terribly unflattering pleating. Who can wear an inverted pleat on the abdomen combined with puffy pleats at the hips? Really? Not us, that's for sure. Bummer.

But, we did come away with this fantastic just-above-the-knee straight skirt in a gorgeous burgundy-pink-and-teal pattern, $4.49:

Oh, joy! No pleats to speak of, a fairly flattering length and silhouette for our short chubby li'l self, which is pretty difficult to find these days.... Score!

After the fitting room adventure (we also snagged a long-sleeve ankle-length velvet dress in a holiday-season-perfect hunter green, which fits like a dream!), we ventured to the back of the store to have a peek at the shoes, and who should be waiting there for us but the cutest little platform pumps in pale pink canvas. Yummy. $8, Fioni (Payless):

Isn't it just a happy coincidence that they pick up the exact pink in the plaid of the skirt? You can bet we're wearing them together today :)

Unfortunately we could not find tights we actually liked (tried on three pairs!) and have discovered we really need some muted teal ones. There are a couple of really lovely hues that might be just right at WeLoveColors. Consider that rectified. (Incidentally, we ended up in eggplant, which is OK but not great).

We also couldn't resist an absolutely perfectly-sized, awesomely-pocketed black croc purse. Surely we did not require another black handbag, not in a million years, but at $4.49 we really couldn't resist.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Hello dear readers!Sorry it has been so long between posts... work has been busy and to be honest, we've felt like we don't have much to add to the blogosphere. Until we can focus on better pictures of our own outfits, we feel far too outshined by other bloggers, so... we're back but will be discussing shopping only, with a strong focus on thrifting!

Today we wanted to share our latest scores with you!

As you may recall, warm skirts are a hole in our wardrobe that our general shopping embargo rules do allow. We tire of pants in the winter and wish for more options, but we spend a good bit of time outdoors waiting for buses and such (have we ever mentioned that we've never had a drivers' license?) so we need skirts that will stand up to the frigid Boston weather from December through April...

We strongly recollect (rather traumatically, actually) being terrorized by hand-me-down kilt-style wool skirts as a child, when they were possibly the most obvious faux pas beyond the saddle shoes our mother tried to put us in... but now that we are grown, we recognize that they're not so ridiculous. Awesome, even. Especially the non-pleated, non-wrap variety.

First, from Etsy shop RuLaLa Vintage, we found this very affordable (even for us- $28) genuine Pendleton wool pencil skirt:

Isn't it divine? It's a bit snug on the waistband due to a severe lack of moving our ass lately, but a safety pin and a longer shirt work just fine ;)

We spotted this other vintage lovely in her shop, and what with the great price (also $28), reduced shipping for a second item, and the rainy weekend, we just had to have it (see how we justified like that?) even though we're not supposed to be buying sweaters. Especially pink sweaters.

(But it's soooo cute! And it has lovely metallic threads and that cutout detailing... swoon).

If you are horribly jealous, never fear: she still has this one available ($32)!

...And if you are also craving a cute skirt to get you through the colder months, here's another precious little thing ($26):

The package came swiftly, with delightful wrapping and a hand-written thank-you note as well as a copy of the (very generous) return policy-- quite unusual on Etsy, really, as most sellers say "as is, no returns." A fantastic seller-- check her out!